Cocaine use regular in MEPs' toilets
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Wipes were labelled with the building name, the storey and a room number (Photo: EUobserver)
By Lisbeth Kirk
Systematic controls of 46 toilets in the European Parliament have revealed traces of cocaine, according to German TV magazine AKTE 05 - five years after the same reporters found cocaine traces in the German parliament.
The quantities found in MEPs' toilets imply regular use, according to the German TV show revealing the findings last night (14 July).
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"Some of the quantities found there would have caused a police drug dog to respond", said pharmacologist Professor Fritz Sorgel from the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg (IBMP), who analysed the samples.
In total, 41 of the 46 surface swabs taken at European Parliament buildings A to H in Brussels contained traces of the highly-addictive drug.
In one room the concentration was so high that there was only one possible explanation - cocaine had been consumed there just before the sample was taken.
"I’m sure a systematic control would unveil cocaine everywhere", said Professor Sorgel to Spiegel Online.
"Therefore I’m not at all surprised cocaine has been found in the European Parliament".
Producer and moderator of AKTE 05 Ulrich Meyer said that consumption of cocaine is a problem which pervades all of society, a problem that is "bigger than many politicians are willing to believe".
"We do not wish to point our fingers at any individuals or professional groups", he said, pointing out that the vast and complex European Parliament building is widely accessible to outside visitors.
